Sweet & Spicy Slaw w/ Stove Top BBQ Beans

What's better on a hot 95 degree day than some cool slaw and some spicy beans?

 This past weekend, my husband and I went to a BBQ that was serving Tennessee Tacos.

I had one and promised myself I'd make a healthy version with less sugar and more spice.

The soft tortilla is a great way to combine these two flavors. 

You get a little of this and some of that in each bite.

When I went to the store to get the basics for this meal, I thought about how many types of beans there are available, but not many healthier brands.  I did get organic black and kidney beans but this meal could have a lot of extra sugar.

So I decided to make the beans and slaw myself and control the sugar with Stevia.

I have never made homemade baked beans before but in looking at a few of the cans, they didn't seem that hard to cook up on my own.

These definitely look a little different than store bought.  I thought that they were going to taste

like pasta sauce when I first saw them cooking.  But they don't at all.

They have a sweet background with a pinch of spice that can easily increase with more red pepper.

Stove Top BBQ Baked Beans:

Mix all ingredients in a 3 Quart Sauce Pan -

3 Cups Water
3 Cans of Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 Can Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can Tomato Paste
2 Vegetable Bullion Cubes
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
1 Tbs. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
4 Tbs. Brown Sugar
1/8 Cup Honey
1/2 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard


I used my homemade brown sugar in this
and it really was nice to have fresh soft sugar to work with.

1-3 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1/8 Cup Ground Flax Seed (optional)

Heat on low at least 1 hour, stirring to prevent burning.
Serve with Spicy Slaw inside a wrap or soft tortilla.

*Optional:  Chop one cooked Pork Chop and add that in.

I used my homemade Whole Grain Spicy Brown Mustard
in the beans, so good and easy to make.

Sweet & Spicy Slaw:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Keep refrigerated.  Flavors are best next day when they've had time to meld.

3 Cups chopped Cabbage/Carrot Slaw mixture
3/4 - 1 Cup of Miracle Whip Mayo or Vegan Mayo
(start with 3/4 cup and then add more if you'd like it creamier)
1 tsp. Powdered Stevia
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
1/4 Cup Spicy Brown Mustard
1 Tbs. Celery Salt
1 Tbs. Honey *optional

An easy Summer meal with lots of fiber, a little sugar and a whole lot of flavor.

Enjoy!

Easy Veggie Chili Verde w/ Vegan Options

This Chili turned out just great!  Especially considering every part of it came out of a jar or can....

This would be a super fast supper for anyone who's too tired to cook but wants a

 healthy great tasting meal....plus leftovers for the next day!

And just leave out the meat, and it's a perfect

Vegan Veggie Verde Chili

Take everything from here



                                                 And put it into here

Pour the 2 cans of Tomatillo Puree, Olive Oil and seasonings to a large pot.
Rinse and drain all the veggies and then transfer everything to the large pot. 
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Spicy, full of flavor and lots of healthy veggies.

Add / Subtract to suit your own tastes and heat tolerance..............

Makes about 3 Quarts so you can save another meals worth for another night.

Great taste and quick...
Enjoy!

BBQ Beef Brisket Chili

This recipe can be adjusted easily for spice, meat, and will be great reheated the next day

I like to make big batches of chili and freeze most of it for easy dinners on those crazy,

"don't want to cook" nights. 

We finally have an extra freezer in the basement which is great for storing this kind of recipe. 

As for the Brisket, if you don't want to cook your own just for Chili, you can get some from a good BBQ restaurant, use pork tenderloin, or a roast beef even.  It's mainly the BBQ flavor that's different here so feel free to make it your own type of Chili.

Enjoy!

Spicy Sausage & Pepperoni Calzone

You could bake these together in the oven as well at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Poke a few slits in tops if you bake to release enough steam while they bake.

The meats are already cooked here so you're really just browning/ cooking the dough.

 Great warmed up the next day as well..................

Enjoy!

Pepperoni Chicken Fra Diavolo

This was such an quick and easy dish to make.  I put everything in the crock pot for about 4 hours on low, took 10 minutes to cook up some pasta and viola.........dinner.

Adjust amounts to your own cooking method:

2 jars of Paul Newman's Fra Diavolo Sauce
4 Boneless Chicken breasts
1- 2 Cups of sliced Pepperoni

Stir and let cook up until the chicken is done through at least but all day in a crock pot if needed.
The sauce just gets better and better cooked slow with the chicken and pepperoni flavors.

About an hour before serving, I adding in a sliced Zucchini to make it a complete meal.


I served this with refrigerator biscuits that I buttered with Earth Balance Vegetable spread and some garlic salt and sesame seeds on top.  Perfect weeknight meal and even better warmed up the next day.

If you can't find the Paul Newman's, just take your favorite spaghetti sauce and add a little heat to it.  Red Pepper flakes, or other.  You could also change this up to a vegetarian version using fried Tofu although I'm not sure it would hold up to the crock pot method.

Anyone have a quick recipe they love for those nights when you just want a good meal without having to think about it?

Thanks for the Holiday LEDS giveaway entries!

Dandelion Greens Strawberry Salad

A quick dinner tonight.  Really hectic work week but I have to get some good greens in me.
Nothing better than freshly picked Dandelion greens with big beautiful Strawberries and a light vinaigrette.http://cannedtime.blogspot.com/2012/04/nunaturals-liquid-stevia-orange-lemon.html

Dandelion greens are wonderful for their


anti-inflammatory

qualities as well as diuretic and a


host of


good nutrition to boot. 

I tried like crazy last year to grow my own...........never thought it would be so hard since they're  a weed right?  But I never did succeed at getting any to get bigger than a couple inches in any confined soil.  So I get them at the health food store or forage away for fresh uncontaminated ones.  The tiny little new leaves that are growing right now here are the best for salad.

Mustard Dill Cucumber & Orange Relish

I used the last of the vinaigrette I made up for

Averie's Mustard Dill Cucumber & Orange Relish from Averie Cooks and it worked perfectly with the strawberries sweetness and the spicy mustard seed.

Make sure you gather your fresh dandelion leaves from an area you are Certain hasn't had any chemical spray for at least the last 2 years.  And wash your leaves thoroughly.

Definitely will be making this one again.

Be sure to get your entries in for the NuNatural's Orange and Lemon Stevia giveaway soon, contest ends Sunday!

Ground Pork Pepperoni Pasta Sauce

Ingrediants:
2 lbs. Lean Pork ground
1/2 lbs Sliced Pepporoni
1 28 oz. Can Stewed Tomatoes w/juice
1 15 oz. Can Tomato Paste
1 Can Tomato Soup
2-4 Tbs. Red Vinager
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1 - 2 tsp. Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp. Italian herb seasoning
1 Tbls. Fennel
2 Small sliced Zucchini or other Squash
Red Pepper to taste

Brown the Pork in some Olive Oil.  Add everything else and simmer for an hour or so.

Enjoy!

Spicy Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 Quarts chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups of chopped cooked chicken meat
1 can yellow corn
1 can black beans rinsed
1 medium onion
2 stalks of celery sliced
1 cup hot sauce or salsa
1 - 2 sliced Jalapeno Peppers
2 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 sliced Avocado for garnish

Seasonings:  Chili powder, Sea Salt, Pepper, Garlic to taste

Saute onion and celery in the olive oil.  Combine all other ingredients into a large 4 Quart pot.  Add seasonings to taste.  Cook for an hour or so on low.
Stir in avocado when serving and garnish with tortilla chips and hot sauce and cheese.
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White Bean Kale Soup

Mushroom Artichoke Soup

5 14 oz. cans of quartered Artichoke Hearts

3 Lbs. Fresh Button Mushrooms sliced

1 Lbs. chopped onion

1 Lbs. frozen spinach

12 cups beef broth

1/2 cup Olive Oil

Tbs. Salt

Tbs. Pepper

tsp. red pepper flakes

tsp. thyme

tsp. garlic powder

Chicken Soup Base

Starting things off with my latest canning adventure: my Chicken Soup base.


This base can go Mexican, Italian or New England even.

The base is 5-6 lbs. of chicken breast, cooked in a large pot of water, salted.
Remove the chicken when cooked through and shred into smaller chunks.
Return the chicken pieces back to the broth to stay warm.
In a large pot, heat one large bag of frozen corn, 2 boxes of frozen spinach, one bag of frozen onions/green pepper pieces. Cook down the water from the veggies and add some jalapenos if you like it spicy.